technomind

Israel Rally at the UN

Yesterday (Sep 20) I was able to get out of the office for long enough to head to Midtown and attend the National Solidarity Rally for Israel. The rally had three stated goals:

1. To show the solidarity of Americans of all stripes who stand with Israel;

2. To demand the release of the IDF soldiers kidnapped by Hezbollah in the recent mini-war in Lebanon and not as in the case of IAF Lt. Ron Arad, a video of whom has appeareed recently, ‘relegate them to the dustbin of history,’

3. To protest the presence of Iran’s terrorist, some would say lunatic apocolyptic terrorist President Ahamadinejad . Who like the Mahdist Mullahs in Iran want to ‘wipe Israel off the map,’ deny the holocaust and, as evident by the checks handed out to cartoon contest ‘winners’ in Tehran, yesterday want to perpetutate Jews hatred in the muslim and non-Muslim world.

I wasn't 100% sure where I was headed, but as I got on the subway downtown there were about 10 people with kippot in my car so I knew I was headed in the right direction! Following the crowd brought me to 47th and 2nd Ave where an incredible stream of people were calmly walking through the police barriers into the park. By the time I got there the park was 3/4 full. JTA is reporting 35,000 people attending, and while that may be pushing it a bit it is not a huge exageration. I managed to make my way relatively close to the front where I was actually able to see the speakers.

The speakers themselves were great. They included Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni, Elie Wiesel, Alan Dershowitz, and U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, John Bolton. I thought Bolton was the best speaker of the day. He emphasized the unwavering US support for Israel and condemned the International community for their support of the Iraninan leadership. Relatives of some of the kidnapped soldiers also spoke, as well as leaders from various non-jewish organizationsm such as the Korean citizens of NY and 2 Christian groups.

I apologize for the quality (or lack thereof) of the pictures - all I had with me was my Treo (and yes I know I need to upgrade to a newer model with a better camera!). Here are a few more pics from the day:

And finally, even though it is hard to tell, the tall guy in the black suit in the below picture is Lee from the last season from the Apprentice who was there to show his support for Israel:

Train Songs

Ever notice how certain songs just seem to fit very well to various situations? I am riding on the train on my weekly journey to NY and listening to my IPod while trying to get some work done and drowning out the screaming kid in the row behind me. "The Stranger" from the last O.A.R. album came on and while it has never been one of my favorites it just seemed to fit in perfectly for a train ride with the miles rolling past from the window. Not sure why, but it was just one of those moments...